Magnetic inverter

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for inverting and transferring a layer or tier of magnetic elongated elements from a receiving station onto an adjacent elevator. The apparatus includes a plurality of electromagnets, each of which is pivotally mounted for movement about a common axis between a first position underlying the receiving station and a second position overlying the elevator. A linkage arrangement is provided for vertically adjusting the pivotal axis of the magnets during transfer of the elements onto the elevator.

Unite States Patent [1 1 Hill et a1.

1 1 MAGNETIC INVERTER [75] inventors: William J. Hill, Holden; Raymond R. Starvaski; Harold E. Woodrow, both of Worcester, all of Mass.

[73] Assignee: Morgan Construction Company,

Worcester, Mass.

[22] Filed: Oct. 13, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 188,987

[52] [LS- CL; 214/1 Q, 214/1 BV, 214/6 FS, 214/65 [51] Int. C1. B65g 57/04 [58] Field 01 Search 214/6 P8, 6.5, 6 N, 214/1Q,1BD,1BV

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,587,888 6/1971 Warren 214/1 BV 3,452,884 7/1969 Tanqueray 214/65 1 July 31, 1973 2,997,186 8/1961 Terez 214/1 BV FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 253,426 4/1967 Austria...'.' 214/6 FS 1,186,408 l/1965 Germany 214/6 FS Primary Examiner-Robert J. Spar Attorney-C. l-lardley Chittick, Maurice E. Gauthier et a1.

[57] ABSTRACT An apparatus for inverting and transferring a layer or tier of magnetic elongated elements from a receiving station onto an adjacent elevator. The apparatus includes a plurality of electromagnets, each of which is pivotally mounted for movement about a common axis between a first position underlying the receiving station and a second position overlying the elevator; A linkage arrangement is provided for vertically adjusting the pivotal axis of the magnets during transfer of the elements onto the elevator.

7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures MAGNETIC INVERTER DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to the art of material handling, and in particular to an improved magnetic invcrter.

The invention is especially useful in the handling of magnetic elongated product lengths such as for example steel channels, angles and other shapes produced by a rolling mill. It will be appreciated, however, from the following detailed description that other uses are also possible.

Rolled shapes of the type referred to above are normally directed to a receiving station where they are assembled into tiers supported on spaced skids. The skids are then advanced over a laterally located elevator, and the elements are stripped from the skids onto the elevator to form a stack. The elevator is lowered progressively to receive each successive tier. In the case of channels, every other tier is normally inverted so that the flanges of the channels will interlock and thus stabilize the stack. In the case of angles, an inverted tier with apexes down is usually inserted between every four or five tiers with apexes up, again for the purpose of stabilizing the stack. The inverted tiers will hereinafter be referred to as locking tiers. The magnetic inverters employed to invert the locking tiers usually include a plurality of electromagnets which are mounted for pivotal movement about a common fixed axis. The magnets pivot from a position underlying the skids at the receiving station to a delivery position overlying the elevator, thereby inverting the tier thus being transferred from the skids onto the elevator. Thereafter, the magnets are de-energized to deposit the inverted elements on the elevator. However, because the magnets pivot about a fixed axis, the elevator must be dropped to a lower level than would otherwise be required to accept elements being stripped from the skids. Thus, after each inverted locking tier is released by the magnets, the elevator must again be raised before another tier can be stripped off of the skids.

The upward adjustment of the elevator after each operating cycle of the magnetic inverters represents a distinct draw back, not only from the standpoint of the added controls needed to insure proper operation of the apparatus, but also because the overall cycle time of the apparatus is increased by the time required to accomplish this reverse adjustment.

Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved magnetic inverter which obviates the draw backs mentioned above. A more specific object of the present invention is the provision of a magnetic inverter having means for vertically adjusting the pivotal axis of the electromagnets during transfer of a tier of elements from the receiving station onto the elevator. By vertically adjusting the pivotal axis of the electromagnets, the need to lower the elevator to a level beneath that normally required to accept elements from the skids is avoided, and this in turn obviates the need for reverse upward adjustment of the elevator following each use of the inverters.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent as the description proceeds with the aid of the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a portion of a material handling system which includes magnetic inverters embodying the concepts of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view through one of the magnetic inverters taken along lines 2-2 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a planview of the magnetic inverter shown in FIG. 2; and,

FIG. 4 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 2 showing the magnetic inverter operatively extended during the transfer of a tier of elements from the support skids onto the elevator.

Referring initially to FIG. 1, there is shown a material handling system including magnetic inverters embodying the concepts of the present invention. The material handling system further includes a plurality of support skids l2 spaced along the length of a receiving station generally indicated at 14. An elevator including a plurality of spaced elevator platforms 16 is arranged along one side of the receiving station 14. A tier of elongated elements, herein shown for illustrative purposes as comprising angles 18a, is arranged on the support skids 12 at the receiving station 14. A stack of angles 18b is shown on the elevator platform 16.

Referring additionally to FIGS. 2 and 3, it will be seen that each of the magnetic inverters 10 has a stationary housing generally indicated at 20 which is located beneath the receiving station 14. The housing includes a base section 22 with upstanding laterally spaced side plates 24 carrying bearings 26. A drive shaft 28 which extends longitudinally beneath the receiving station 14, is journalled for rotation in the bearings 26.

A crank 30 is mounted on the drive shaft 28 and is keyed thereto at 32. The crank 30 has a pair of laterally spaced crank arms 34a and 34b joined by an intermediately extending stop bar 36 (see FIG. 2). A bolt 38 is threaded through the stop bar 36 to serve as an adjustable stop which is arranged to contact a support member 40 when the apparatus is adjusted to the position shown in FIG. 2. The crank 30 further includes another short arm 42 extending in a direction opposite to that of the crank arms 34a and 34b. A second bolt 44 is threaded through arm 42 to act in conjunction with another housing support member 46 to limit rotational movement of the crank assembly when the apparatus is adjusted to the position shown in FIG. 4.

The housing 20 is further provided with a horizontally extending support plate 48 on which is mounted a pair of upstanding laterally spaced brackets 50. A first link means" herein shown as comprising a pair of elongated links 52a and 52b, is pivotally attached to the brackets by any convenient means such as for example bolts 54. The bolts 54 are aligned along a common axis which will at times hereinafter be referred to as the "first pivotal axis and which extends in a direction parallel to the rotational axis of the drive shaft 28. The links 52a and 52b are pivotally connected at their outer ends to a laterally extending shaft 56 which defines a second pivotal axis also parallel to the rotational axis of the drive shaft 28.

The inverter further includes an electromagnet 58 having laterally extending ears 60 pivotally connected to the shaft 56. A second link means connects the shaft 56 to the crank assembly 30. As herein shown, the second link means includes a pair of curved links 62a and 62b, each of which is pivotally connected at its upper end to the shaft 56 and at its lower end at 64 to the crank assembly 30.

A third link means" connects the electromagnct 58 to the crank assembly 30. As herein shown, the third link means includes a pair of link members 66a and 66b, the upper ends of which (as viewed in FIG. 2) are pivotally connected as at 68 to the magnet at a location disposed laterally of the second pivotal axis defined by shaft 56, and at their lower ends to a shaft 70 extending laterally between the distal ends of the crank arms 34a and 34b.

As is best shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the apparatus further includes an operating means generally indicated at 72 for rotating the drive shaft 28. The operating means may conveniently be comprised of a double acting bydraulic cylinder 74 having an extensible piston rod 76 pivotally connected to the crank 30 as at 78.

The operation of the apparatus will now be reviewed with particular reference to FIGS. 2 and 4.

In FIG. 2, the inverter is in the inoperative position with the magnet 58 located beneath the level of the support skids 12 and with the piston rod 76 of the hydraulic cylinder 74 withdrawn. A stack of angles is shown in the process of being formed on the elevator platforms 16. At this particular stage, the stack includes nine tiers, with the fifth having previously been inverted to act as a locking tier. The upright tiers are made up of eight angles each and the inverted locking tier includes seven angles. Another tier of seven angles 18a is on the support skids I2, ready for inversion and transfer onto the stack. This operation is accomplished by actuating cylinder 74 to extend piston rod 76. This in turn causes the crank 30 and the operating shaft to rotate to the position shown in FIG. 4. At this point, the bolt 44 contacts the housing support member 46. The magnets 58 of each inverter 10, which were energized prior to actuation of cylinder 74, carry the angles 18a in an arcuate path of approximately 180 to a position overlying the uppermost tier of the stack being formed on the elevator platforms 16. The angles 18a are of course inverted during their transfer from the skids 12 to the position shown in FIG. 4.

It is important to note that while each magnet 58 is being pivotally manipulated about the second pivotal axis defined by shaft 56, the cooperative action of the crank 30, and the first link means (52a, 52b), second link means (62a, 62b) and third link means (66a, 6612) causes the shaft 56 to be vertically adjusted in relation to the elevator platforms 16. The extent of this vertical adjustment, which is depicted schematically at 80 in FIG. 4 compensates for the space taken up by the inverted magnet 5Q, placing the inverted angles 18a over the elevator platforms to at a level which is approximately the same as the level of the support skids 12,.

thereby obviating the necessity of having to lower the elevator platforms 16 to a level beneath that normally required to accept a tier being stripped from the skids 12.

With the apparatus adjusted to the position shown in FIG. 4, the magnets 58 are de-energized to deposit the angles 18a on the stack. Thereafter, the apparatus is returned to the condition shown in FIG. 2.

In light of the foregoing description, it will now be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications may be made to the preferred embodiment herein disclosed, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Moreover, it will be equally apparent that the use of the invention is not limited to the handling of any particular product, and that accordingly the invention may be employed in a variety of circumstances where inversion and transfer of one or more magnetically permeable elements is contemplated.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for transferring one or more magnetic elements located on one level at a first location to a second laterally adjacent location at approximately the same level, and for simultaneously inverting the elements during the transfer thereof between said locations, said apparatus comprising: housing means underlying said first location, said housing means including means defining a first pivotal axis; magnet meanshaving means thereon defining a second pivotal axis; an operating shaft journalled for rotation in bearings carried by said housing means; crank means mounted on said shaft for rotation therewith; link means connecting said magnet means to said housing means and said crank means; and, means for alternately rotating said drive shaft in opposite directions, the said link means cooperating with said crank means to pivotally move said magnet means about said second pivotal axis between an inoperative position underlying said first location and an operative position overlying said second location, while simultaneously vertically adjusting said second pivotal axis.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim I wherein said link means includes first link means pivotally connected at one end to said housing means at said first pivotal axis and at the other end to said magnet means at said second pivotal axis.

3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein said link means is further characterized by second link means pivotally connected at one end to said crank means and at the other end to said magnet means at said second pivotal axis.

4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein said link means is further characterized by third link means pivotally connected at one end to said crank means and at the other end to said magnet means at a location disposed laterally of said second pivotal axis.

5. Apparatus for inverting and transferring magnetic elements from a first location to a second laterally adjacent location, said apparatus comprising: housing means underlying the first Iocation, said housing means including means defining a first pivotal axis; a magnet having means thereon defining a second pivotal axis; first link means pivotally connected at one end to said housing means at said first pivotal axis and at the other end to said magnet at said second pivotal axis; a drive shaft rotatable about an axis which is parallel to said first and second pivotal axes; crank means carried by said drive shaft for rotation therewith; second link means pivotally connected at one end to said crank means and at the other end to said magnet at said second pivotal axis; third link means pivotally connected at one end to said crank means and at the other end to said magnet at a location disposed laterally of said second pivotal axis; and, operating means for alternately rotating said drive shaft in opposite directions, the cooperative action of said crank means and said link means being such that rotation of said drive shaft in one direction will cause an upward adjustment of said second pivotal axis while at the same time causing the magnet to pivot about said second pivotal axis between a position underlying the first location to a position overlying the second location, thereby inverting and transferring the magnetically permeable elements to the second location, whereupon de-energization of the magnet will cause the transferred elements to be deposited at the second location after which rotation of said drive shaft in the opposite direction will return the magnet to its original position underlying the first location.

6. Apparatus for transferring magnetic elements from one location to another laterally spaced location and for inverting the elements during the transfer thereof between said locations, said apparatus comprising: magnet means rotatable about an axis located between said location; rotatable crank means; link means connecting said crank means to said magnet means; other link means connecting said crank means to said axis; still another link means connecting said axis to another axis which is fixed, parallel to and spaced laterally from said first-mentioned axis; and operating means for rotating said crank means in opposite directions, said link means cooperating with said crank means during rotation of the latter to rotate said magnet means about said first-mentioned axis between a first position underlying said one location and a second portion overlying said other location while simultaneously vertically adjusting said first-mentioned axis.

7. Apparatus for transferring magnetic elements from one location to another laterally spaced location and for inverting the elements during the transfer thereof between said locations, said apparatus comprising: magnet means rotatable about an axis located between said locations; crank means rotatably supported by housing means underlying said first location; link means connecting said crank means to said magnet means; other link means connecting said axis to both said housing means and said crank means; and, operating means for rotating said crank means in opposite directions, said link means cooperating with said crank means during rotation of the latter to rotate said mag- I net means about said axis between a first position underlying said one location and a second position overlying said other location while simultaneously vertically adjusting said axis 

1. Apparatus for transferring one or more magnetic elements located on one level at a first location to a second laterally adjacent location at approximately the same lEvel, and for simultaneously inverting the elements during the transfer thereof between said locations, said apparatus comprising: housing means underlying said first location, said housing means including means defining a first pivotal axis; magnet means having means thereon defining a second pivotal axis; an operating shaft journalled for rotation in bearings carried by said housing means; crank means mounted on said shaft for rotation therewith; link means connecting said magnet means to said housing means and said crank means; and, means for alternately rotating said drive shaft in opposite directions, the said link means cooperating with said crank means to pivotally move said magnet means about said second pivotal axis between an inoperative position underlying said first location and an operative position overlying said second location, while simultaneously vertically adjusting said second pivotal axis.
 2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said link means includes first link means pivotally connected at one end to said housing means at said first pivotal axis and at the other end to said magnet means at said second pivotal axis.
 3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein said link means is further characterized by second link means pivotally connected at one end to said crank means and at the other end to said magnet means at said second pivotal axis.
 4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein said link means is further characterized by third link means pivotally connected at one end to said crank means and at the other end to said magnet means at a location disposed laterally of said second pivotal axis.
 5. Apparatus for inverting and transferring magnetic elements from a first location to a second laterally adjacent location, said apparatus comprising: housing means underlying the first location, said housing means including means defining a first pivotal axis; a magnet having means thereon defining a second pivotal axis; first link means pivotally connected at one end to said housing means at said first pivotal axis and at the other end to said magnet at said second pivotal axis; a drive shaft rotatable about an axis which is parallel to said first and second pivotal axes; crank means carried by said drive shaft for rotation therewith; second link means pivotally connected at one end to said crank means and at the other end to said magnet at said second pivotal axis; third link means pivotally connected at one end to said crank means and at the other end to said magnet at a location disposed laterally of said second pivotal axis; and, operating means for alternately rotating said drive shaft in opposite directions, the cooperative action of said crank means and said link means being such that rotation of said drive shaft in one direction will cause an upward adjustment of said second pivotal axis while at the same time causing the magnet to pivot about said second pivotal axis between a position underlying the first location to a position overlying the second location, thereby inverting and transferring the magnetically permeable elements to the second location, whereupon de-energization of the magnet will cause the transferred elements to be deposited at the second location after which rotation of said drive shaft in the opposite direction will return the magnet to its original position underlying the first location.
 6. Apparatus for transferring magnetic elements from one location to another laterally spaced location and for inverting the elements during the transfer thereof between said locations, said apparatus comprising: magnet means rotatable about an axis located between said location; rotatable crank means; link means connecting said crank means to said magnet means; other link means connecting said crank means to said axis; still another link means connecting said axis to another axis which is fixed, parallel to and spaced laterally from said first-mentioned axis; and operating means for rotating said crank means in oppositE directions, said link means cooperating with said crank means during rotation of the latter to rotate said magnet means about said first-mentioned axis between a first position underlying said one location and a second portion overlying said other location while simultaneously vertically adjusting said first-mentioned axis.
 7. Apparatus for transferring magnetic elements from one location to another laterally spaced location and for inverting the elements during the transfer thereof between said locations, said apparatus comprising: magnet means rotatable about an axis located between said locations; crank means rotatably supported by housing means underlying said first location; link means connecting said crank means to said magnet means; other link means connecting said axis to both said housing means and said crank means; and, operating means for rotating said crank means in opposite directions, said link means cooperating with said crank means during rotation of the latter to rotate said magnet means about said axis between a first position underlying said one location and a second position overlying said other location while simultaneously vertically adjusting said axis. 